


come ye, all who gather

by yanak324



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Acceptance, Angst, Bonding, F/M, Family, Friendship/Love, Future Fic, Gen, Moving On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 19:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17514461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yanak324/pseuds/yanak324
Summary: She and Alaric could never work, because he trusts her implicitly and almost always follows her lead. Being the masochist she is, Caroline knows this type of love is just too easy for her.





	come ye, all who gather

**Author's Note:**

> This is born entirely out of my best friend and I obsessively rewatching Vampire Diaries, and realizing just how incredible Caroline's evolution is throughout the series. It's nice to know that years later, she is still my favorite heroine of Mystic Falls. I owe absolutely nothing! Enjoy :)

xxx

 

“You were probably the closest thing my dad had to a soulmate.”

“More like a moral compass, but that’s sweet of you to- “

“No,” Hope grabs her arm, “don’t dismiss it like that.”

Something twists so painfully in her chest, Caroline almost forgets to breathe.

It’s regret, she can taste it.

“Well then,” she covers the young woman’s hand with her own, “do better than me. _Fight_ for what you want.”

Upon reflection, Caroline isn’t sure whom she’s specifically referring to when she says that; but it doesn’t really matter, does it?

Later, she watches the girl approach a pale, curly haired teen sitting alone on the quad, sketching in a notebook. His name is Logan, and he could be dangerous, from what Alaric tells her, but she lets them talk anyway. 

She’s the last person on the planet who could ever judge Hope for something like that. 

Instead, she toys with the ring that hangs around her neck – one she’s worn for over a decade – and observes the two interact. 

Sees the tentative smiles and the flushed cheeks, hears the accelerated heartbeats…

She remembers it so vividly, that rush of first, and second, and even third loves that now seem so far away, like they happened to someone else. 

Caroline might be 17 forever but who she was at 17 is vastly different from who she is now. 

So, she averts her eyes from the couple and scans the quad instead.

She’s better served protecting young love than wanting to relive it. 

xxx 

Lizzie gets into a summer drama program and they celebrate as a family. 

Caroline sips her wine and watches the girls try to convince Alaric that the latest sci-fi blockbuster is worth watching. She thinks about Hayley. 

And Klaus, and how they’ll never watch their daughter grow up and become the incredible woman Caroline knows Hope will be (and is). 

She thinks about Jo and Stefan too, and how they’ll never see Lizzie and Josie graduate high school, or go to college, or fall in love, or have kids.

Because, yes. If Stefan were alive, he would be part of this family. 

He’d be an important person in the girls’ lives, something like an uncle. He would teach Lizzie about self-control and give Josie advice on handling a temperamental sibling. 

When they would be sad, he’d take them out for ice cream, Caroline decides. When they’d get older, he would pour them fingers of hundred-year-old scotch, set them by the fireplace and tell them stories of his travels and the people he’d met in his century and a half on earth.

He’d be the first person they would call to bail them out of trouble – the teenage kind – like drinking too much and getting stranded at a friend’s house. 

They would call uncle Stefan, because mom would be too mad, and dad would be too disappointed. 

And even though Caroline has thought about this a million times in the last 12 years, her vision still blurs with tears when she locks eyes with Alaric across the table. 

Later, after they’ve sent the girls up to their room, they end up in his office. 

Alaric doesn’t say anything, doesn’t offer empty words of comfort or a dismissive pat on her shoulder. He pours her a glass of bourbon instead and they pass the bottle back and forth until she falls asleep on the couch.

xxx

Eventually, Ric moves on too, and it might be the first time Caroline feels truly at a loss. 

There’s an edge to her, a sort of nervous energy that reverberates off the walls around her, but she’s too exhausted to leave again. 

She’s been away for over five years now on and off, without much success in finding a solution to their _problem_. 

Caroline has to think about it in terms of a problem to solve, because if she truly absorbs the enormity of what awaits them if they don’t find a way out for the girls, it might truly be the end of her. 

Instead, she throws herself into what she does best: creating order out of chaos. 

It’s not that Ric and the rest of the staff have become a little lax…

It’s just well, they have and since she’s here, why not straighten out a few things? Get the school back up and running as smoothly and efficiently as when she was headmaster. 

It’s not until Lizzie and Josie confront her that Caroline realizes this may not be the best way to cope. 

“Everyone is starting to hate me, mom.” Lizzie says through gritted teeth, her signature scowl making Caroline’s heart expand simply from its similarly to her own expressions. 

The entire exchange sounds so much like what she would say to her mom, that it seems ludicrous that Lizzie isn’t biologically hers. 

“C’mon sweetheart, you’re telling me that a little teenage adversity has Lizzie Saltzman intimidated?” 

Lizzie furrows her eyebrows at that, opening her mouth to speak, but her much more reserved sister cuts in. 

“It’s not that, mom. We’re just worried about you. You seem extra…you know.” 

Josie’s pale complexion flushes as she purses her lips and looks at her sister for guidance.

It takes a full minute of silent conversation between the twins – dueling out who will be the one to say it – for Caroline to push. 

“Out with it, girls, what’s going on?” 

“You just seem a little tense-…” Josie tries again but Lizzie cuts her off this time. “What Josie’s trying to say is, maybe you should go on a date…or something.” 

“Oh.” 

Then it’s Caroline’s turn to blush. 

xxx 

“Great. My own kids think I need to get laid.” Caroline announces, as she barges into Alaric’s office. “I mean what’s the big deal. I’ve got eternity for that. It’s not like I’m going to die an old spinster.” She drops onto the couch with the dramatic flair of the teenager she used to be, not noticing that Alaric isn’t alone. 

Emma, the pretty guidance counselor and a damn powerful witch, who Caroline actually hired herself, takes two very deliberate steps away from the headmaster.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” She suggests in a pleasing tone. Caroline feels even worse for interrupting. 

“I’m sorry.” She says to Emma’s retreating form, but Alaric doesn’t look mad; mostly just amused and a bit concerned. 

“The girls just want you to be happy, and they can see you’re not.” 

“Are you happy?” Caroline asks, looking up at him – the closest thing she’s had to a real life partner. 

“I’m getting there,” he smiles at her from where he’s perched on the couch arm. 

She believes him, because Ric has never been anything other than honest with her. 

xxx 

She doesn’t want everything to be about love, but it is, because _of course it is._

Humans aren’t meant to be alone, and every vampire started out as a human, so that instinct remains in all of them. It might be amplified in her.

She can’t think of anyone she knows who has truly been at peace being alone…except maybe for Bonnie. 

But even Bonnie has settled down with someone who is truly deserving of her aka not from the supernatural clusterfuck that is Mystic Falls. 

Besides, Caroline has never been as strong as Bonnie – always a victim to her insecurities, the only salve ever being someone’s interest in her. Someone telling her she’s good enough… 

She doesn’t do herself enough justice with that assessment, but it still doesn’t negate her innate desire to belong to someone. She yearns to be someone’s first thought when he wakes and the last before he falls asleep. 

So, she does it. She gets dressed up and goes on dates. Dates with men whom she deems worthy, at least based on their financials and lack of criminal history. 

What? 

She’s a parent first and foremost and her kids are _actually_ special – not just hypothetically. Of course, no one is coming near them without being thoroughly vetted. 

After a while, the vetting part becomes more fun than the actual dates.

Caroline has always been a good researcher – especially when she has a goal in mind – and occasionally it gives her a rush like no other.

Even if the stakes are as inconsequential as a bad date.

That is until they’re not. 

xxx 

One day, while tracking down a former employer of her most recent suitor, Caroline finds a coven.

Not just any coven, but _the coven_ – the one with knowledge and power to break the Gemini twin curse. 

“I was _so_ stupid, searching every corner of the earth to find them, when they’ve been right under our noses the entire time. Just 50 miles away.” 

Caroline paces the length of Alaric’s office. 

“How did you get this?” He looks perplexed, inspecting the print out she shoved in front of him just a few minutes ago. 

Caroline is prepared for skepticism.

“Why does it matter? We have to go now. See if this checks out. From what I learned, this coven moves around _a lot_ , which is probably why we couldn’t find them before, so we need to go. Now.” 

Later, as they speed down the highway, following instructions she scribbled haphazardly while on the phone with her contact, Caroline fleetingly wonders if maybe the reason she and Ric never worked out is because he never really challenged her.

He’s always trusted her implicitly and followed her lead.

And being the masochist, she is, Caroline knows that type of love is just too easy for her. 

xxx 

Somehow – against all odds – they’re able to make a deal with the coven.

Break the Gemini twin curse in exchange for their youngest witches’ enrollment at the Salvatore School. 

Caroline is too eager. Alaric is too cautious. 

They argue the entire way home. Alaric puts up a good fight, but when both Bonnie _and_ Freya vouch for the coven, he acquiesces. 

The bond is severed on a stormy night a couple weeks later with the twins none the wiser.

The one thing Caroline and Ric do agree on is that junior year – with all the pressure and added stress – is not the right time to tell the girls what _could have been._

“Maybe, on their 22nd birthday…” Caroline suggests with a shrug. 

Ric laughs wholeheartedly at that, despite the morbidity, because this is worth celebrating. 

They just kicked absolute parent ass; protected their kids from heartbreak and certain death. If the only consequence is them being angry later on, well at least they’ll be alive to do so.

Caroline feels an enormous weight lifted off her shoulders and people notice – specifically the kids in question. 

On a shopping trip a few weeks later, she catches Josie looking at her over the rim of her Frappuccino. Caroline doesn’t envy her grandkids – they’ll never get away with anything under Josie’s watchful eye. 

“I’m glad you’re dating, mom. You seem so much happier.” 

There’s so much earnestness in her daughter’s tone, Caroline instinctively reaches out and grasps her hand across the table. 

“You make me happy, sweet Jo Jo.” 

_Someday you’ll understand why._

xxx 

Caroline doesn’t truly understand it until later, much later. 

She’s sitting at an outdoor table at the Mystic Grill, sharing a plate of fries with a newly pregnant Hope, who rubs her belly protectively and gazes over the town square. 

For a fleeting moment, Caroline lets herself imagine what Klaus would be like as a grandfather. 

Her unexpected snicker catches Hope’s attention. 

“What’s so funny?” 

“Nothing,” Caroline smiles, picking up a fry. 

“You were imagining my dad as a grandfather, weren’t you?” 

“Are you doing that mind reading thing again?” Caroline asks, hiding her surprise pretty well under Hope’s amused stare. 

“Nah, you just get that look on your face when you think about him or get nostalgic in general.” 

Hope takes a fry from the plate and dips it generously in ketchup before popping it into her mouth.

“Besides, I’ve been thinking about him too recently.” She adds in a much more subdued tone. 

Caroline would have missed it, if not for her heightened abilities. 

“I know this sounds incredibly cliché, but I’m 100% certain that wherever your father is, he’s watching your every move and probably making threats against anyone who looks at you sideways.” 

Hope smiles but there’s an edge of sadness to it. Caroline has the strongest desire to quell it but isn’t sure what to say.

Impending motherhood is confusing enough as it is without someone feeding you a mouthful of platitudes. 

It’s this alone that makes Caroline reflect, truly reflect on everything that’s happened since she returned to Mystic Falls. Since, she stopped running under the pretense of finding a way to save her daughters. 

The words tumble out then like they’ve been sitting on the tip of her tongue the entire time, just waiting for this moment to materialize.

“I used to think it was essential to fall in love; that romantic love was the only kind that could truly be fulfilling. Even after the girls were born, I still held onto that. It’s part of why I wanted to marry Stefan right away. I knew, I knew there was impending doom and I wanted that wedding so badly –“ 

Her fingers unconsciously reach for the necklace beneath her shirt.

“I wanted to be married to at least one of my soulmates…” 

She pauses, unable to hide the melancholy in her tone, and wondering if Hope will catch on. If she will remember that one conversation they had so many years ago, when Hope herself was discovering the intoxicating pull of first love. 

“I get it.” Caroline nearly misses Hope’s words again, but there’s no mistaking the weight behind the younger woman’s averted gaze. Perhaps Hope is reflecting on the first boy she ever loved, one she had to let go of along the way. 

“You do, and you don’t.” Caroline says quickly, reaching out to place a hand on Hope’s shoulder, “when you’re a mother, you’ll truly understand, probably a lot faster than I did, given how brilliant you are.” 

Hope starts to protest but Caroline doesn’t let her. 

“It’s something your dad knew too. He was strangely quick on the uptake despite his stubbornness…” 

At that, Caroline can’t help but pause and share a knowing smile with Hope – one of the few people left on this earth who remembers Klaus Mikaelson the way Caroline does. 

“When he sacrificed himself to protect you, I should have realized then that there was no reason for me to run. No reason to search for answers elsewhere when what I needed was right here in Mystic Falls all along.” 

”My girls.”

The rush of love when she thinks about them is not unexpected and yet it’s _everything._

“They were the ones who saved me, who taped me back together. Not just this time, but every time. Every time, my heart has been broken, they’ve repaired it. When I was still grieving for my own mom, for Elena. When Stefan –“ she stops then. 

Even after all this time, it’s hard for her to say it. Some wounds don’t heal, they just scab over. 

Maybe one day though. Isn’t that the hope?

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, maybe I was one of your dad’s soulmates, but I think you were _the soulmate._ You were the greatest love of his life, Hope. You saved him, just like Josie and Lizzie saved me.” 

A few moments pass by and then… 

“I think, aunt Caroline that you’re the last person on this earth who is in need of saving.” 

Caroline doesn’t have to wonder why Hope deflects, aware of the weight of her words. 

But if anyone will understand eventually, it’s Hope, because she’s the smartest young woman Caroline knows, aside from her own girls of course. 

And Caroline plans to be there - for all three of them - when they do. 

 

xxx


End file.
